State of Mind Episode 8: A Little Problem
A Little Problem is the eighth episode of Red vs. Blue: State of Mind . A Little Problem Sarge, Grif, Simmons, and Donut stood in a semi-circle around Lopez, who was at work disassembling the car to get to the gas tank. Sarge had a stern look on his face, hands clenched tightly into fists. As the others could certainly tell, he was not pleased. "Grif," started Sarge, "I've seen and heard about a lot of things in my day. But someone pissing into the gas tank, that takes the cake." "What was I supposed to do, Sarge?" asked Grif. "Did you want me to go just piss in the corner of the garage like some animal." Sarge was clenching his fists tighter and was beginning to grit his teeth. "Damnit, Grif, you need to show a little respect to these vehicles. We're it not for these vehicles, you'd probably be living in a Communist controlled country. And furthermore, I've had my life saved by these things on countless occasions back in 'Nam." Grif rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we're all so grateful that because of these, you're here yelling at us and giving us orders." A small vein pulsated on the side of Sarge's head. Simmons raised his voice. "I'm truly glad you're here with us today, sir. Without people like you, we'd all be a bunch of jack-booted Commie bastards." Grif snorted and muttered, "Kissass." Sarge picked up a toolbox and shoved it into Grif's chest. "I think that the only way you're going to learn to show a little respect to who and what kept this country safe is to work on it yourself. Starting now, you're going to be assisting Lopez in matinencing the vehicle," said Sarge. Lopez snapped his head around at the others upon hearing Sarge. The look on his face was one of pure shock and annoyance. "¿Qué? ¿Por qué dejas este imbécil que me ayude? (What? Why are you letting this idiot help me?)" "I agree, Lopez, he should have to do all of it. Unfortunately, it would only end up more broken than what he already left it, so he'll just do what you decide he should do." Lopez calmly turned his head back torwards the car and began hitting his head against the side of the car very lightly. He had forgotten what encouraged him to join this team, but he was beginning to regret it. ---- The car ride had been long and quiet between David and Maine. Another murder report had been called and David was being sent out to investigate this one. Since Carolina was at a doctor's appointment, David decided to go pick up Maine from the office and bring him along. It had been awhile since Maine had actually gone out on assignment, so David figured it might be good for him. David parked the car by the building as police tape was being rolled around the area. Stepping out of the car, Maine passed by the officer who was surrounding the area with tape, who stumbled a little as Maine walked by. Maine was considered quite intimidating by most people, despite his inability to truly speak. A woman of about sixty stood by the area they needed to go. David and Maine both flashed their badges. "Good evening, Ma'am," said David. "I'm Special Agent Washington and this is Special Agent Maine. We're part of the Freelancer Task Force and we'd like to ask you a few questions." The woman, stood at about 5' 6" and gazed up at Maine, who stood around 6' 3". She nodded, unsure if she was comfortable around Maine. "Thank you. Now, can you tell us what happened here?" asked David. "Yes, said the woman. "I was out feeding my cats when all of a sudden I heard this loud noise. I looked around the corner and saw a man, dressed almost entirely in gray, grappling with this poor woman. I knew I was in no condition to try and help her myself, so I ran over to neighboring apartment to ask for help. And when we returned, she was dead and he was gone." "And this woman, do you know of anyone who might have wanted her dead?" "No, she was always friendly. I can't think of anyone who would have wanted to kill her." David knew it was the Omega Killer, but anything that helped form an I.D., if even a vauge one, was better than nothing. "Did you, by chance, get a look at this man's face, maybe see any identifying marks of any sort." He tapped the pencil he was carrying against his notepad. The woman said, "All I could really see was that he had red hair. His face was fairly well covered."' "That's just great," ''thought David, ''"All we've got to go on is red hair. Just fucking great." "Well ma'm, we don't have any more questions, but if you find any information you know who to contact. Good day." David and Maine walked off torwards the crime scene. David stooped down to the body, the smell of blood intermingling with everything else. He looked at her pale, sullen face, the Ω carved into her forehead. ''"No older than eighteen or nineteen. Probably just out on spring break visiting relatives." '' From behind, Maine uttered a low pitched growl. "I know," said David, "I can't believe he had to time to kill her and carve it into her head. Bastard must be getting some practice in, especially if he can do it so neatly." It was a mystery to most how David could understand Maine without him having to write anything out, but they just went along with it. Maine knelt to the ground and started slowly running his hands through the grass to see if the Omega Killer had dropped anything, uttering a quick snarl of frustration at his lack of success. "And the bastard isn't getting sloppy either. We're going to have our work cut out for us." Deciding there was nothing left but for a forensic crew to clean everything up, they left back for the office. The remainder of the day remain quiet between the two. David was debating in his head on whether or not to talk to Maine about Ellis, but decided against it. He wasn't sure if Maine would believe him. It made him think, would Carolina believe him if he told her? He guessed that he would find out in time. If only he knew when.